Chair construction

ABSTRACT

A seat, such as an upholstered chair, sofa or love seat, is so constructed that it can be shipped in a flat package, knocked down, and assembled by the purchaser in a very few minutes. The seat has a back, two arms and seat which are assembled by connecting the back to the seat and then by ingenious means connecting the two arms to the back and seat. The upper ends of the arms have hook engagement with cooperating means on the edges of the back, whereupon the seat is bolted to the arms to complete the assembly. The seat construction employs conventional sinuous springs extending from front to back and the seat deck construction is such that longer springs may be used, connected in close proximity to the front and back of the seat deck and at relatively low points to improve the comfort of the seat by spring action. Tension means connected to the springs prevents the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;bucketing&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; of the springs, the tensioning means being variable to control such action.

United States Patent Miller July 4, 1972 [54] CHAIR CONSTRUCTION PrimaryExaminer-Paul R, Gilliam [72] Inventor: Richard II. Miller, 4723Crestwood Way,

Sacramento, 95822 AttarneyAlexander B. Blair [22] Filed: Feb. 26, 1970[57] ABSTRACT Appl. No.: 18,019

Related US. Application Data The seat has a back, two arms and seatwhich are assembled by connecting the back to the seat and then byingenious means connecting the two arms to the back and seat. The upperends of the arms have hook engagement with cooperating means on theedges of the back, whereupon the seat is bolted to the arms to completethe assembly. The seat construction employs conventional sinuous springsextending from front to back and the seat deck construction is such thatlonger springs may be used, connected in close proximity to the frontand back of the seat deck and at relatively low points to improve thecomfort of the seat by spring action. Tension means connected to thesprings prevents the bucketing" of the springs, the tensioning meansbeing variable to control such action.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATEMTEDJUL' 4 m2 SHEET 2 BF 2 CHAIRCONSTRUCTION This application is a division of Ser. No. 71 1,259, filedMar. 7, 1968, now US. Pat. No. 3,526,433.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is well known, it is the common practicein furniture factories to manufacture completed, assembled, upholsteredchairs, love seats and sofas and the articles are usually shipped inlarge paperboard cartons. These cartons are bulky and freight rates forshipping them are quite high. The present improvement permits chaircomponents to be manufactured and shipped in knocked-down condition asdistinguished from the present method of manufacture and shipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The bottom, back and sides of a chair aremanufactured in their entirety, including upholstery and coverings, andthen are shipped stacked one on top of the other in knocked-downcondition to be assembled by the use of a few bolts. The back isprovided with a bottom rail which, in assembling, is bolted to the backrail of the deck and the back is provided in opposite edges nearthe topthereof with a slot within which is arranged a hanger. The completedsides of the chair are provided with flat upwardly opening hooksinsertable through the openings in the edges of the back and then movedupwardly to engage the hooks with the hangers. The side rails of thedeck are then bolted to the sides of the chair. With the upwardlyopening hooks carried by the sides of the chair, the weight of the backand its connection to the seat is placed directly on the sides of thechair, the weight thus being directly supported by the sides of thechair.

The deck includes a novel construction including low front and rearrails to which are connected the ends of sinuous springs, and thesesprings are connected to each other and to the side rails of the deck byauxiliary springs. The arrangement of the parts relative to the frontand rear rails is such that longer than usual sinuous springs may beemployed and they are anchored to the front and rear rails in closeproximity to the forward and rear extremities of the chair.

The deck further includes an auxiliary rear rail above the main rail andbeneath which the rear ends of the sinuous springs extend. Tensioningmeans is connected between the auxiliary rear rail and each sinuousspring to control the firmness and bucketing action of the latter. Anauxiliary front rail is spaced above the main'front rail and is providedwith a support above the auxiliary rail and below the upper extremity ofthe deck so that the seat cushion may have a deep forward edge toimprove the seating comfort of the chair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thefinished chair;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the component parts of the chair showingthe sides of the chair separated from the bottom and back;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the seat deck per se;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5' is a detailed section on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the deck structure of the chair with thesprings, etc., eliminated;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detailed sectional view showing the connectionofthe back and one of the chair sides;

FIG. 8' is a fragmentary perspective view of the frame of one of thechair sides and a portion of the frame of the back; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary bottom plan of one comer of the chair frame.

Referring to FIG. .1, attention is invited to the fact that while anupholstered chair is shown, the invention is applicable to similararticles such as sofas, love seats, etc. The chair comprises four maincomponents, namely, a seat 10, back 12, and sides 14. Each of thesecomponents at. the factory may be upholstered and covered and completedas individual separate units.

The seat or bottom portion 10 comprises a frame shown in section in FIG.4. This frame comprises a front rail 16 and rear rail 18, and it will benoted that both of these railshave their tops spaced substantially fromthe top of the frame as a whole. These rails are connected at their endsby side rails 20, and the connection between the front and side rails isstrengthened by the usual knee blocks 22.

The side rails 20 have their upper edges at a higher elevation than thetops of the front and rear rails, and front and rear blocks 24 and 26,respectively, are secured to the upper edges of the side rails. Theseblocks may be of the same width as the side rails 20 as shown by theblocks 26 in FIG. 6. The tops of the blocks 24 are flush with theauxiliary front rails 28 (FIG. 4) and a flat strip 30, preferably formedof thin plywood, extends over the auxiliary rail 28 and over the tops ofthe front portions of the blocks 24. The blocks 26 are higher than theblocks 24 and each of the latter is provided with an auxiliary block 32,the top surface of which is in the same horizontal plane as the tops ofthe blocks 26. A heavy flexible rubber strip 34 is cemented or otherwisesecured forwardly and rearwardly to the upper faces of the blocks 26 and32 and projects inwardly therefrom asshown in FIG. 5.

It will be noted that the auxiliary front rail 28 is spaced above themain rail 16. An auxiliary rear rail 36 spans the side rails 20 (FIG. 4)and is spaced over the main rear rail 18. These spaces between the mainand auxiliary front and back rails are utilized to receive a pluralityof hooks 38 and 40 fixed, respectively, to the main front and back rails16 and 18. Sinuous springs 42 are connected between corresponding frontand rear hooks, the arrangement of such springs being shown in FIG. 3.The springs 42 are connected to each other and to the side frames byauxiliary springs 43. By providing the spaces referred to, the springmountings may be arranged very close to the front and rear limits of thechair deck, thus providing for the use of substantially longer springsof the sinuous type. The length and resiliency also areimproved by thefact that the hooks 38 and 40 are arranged relatively close to thebottom of the chair deck. The spring arches as shown in FIG. 4, theuppermost limit of the spring between its ends being arranged above therubber strip or webbing 34. These relatively strong rubber webbings 34,as will become apparent, allow the deck pad to cavitate on the sides ofthe chair without producing a "hammock effect.

Certain cross members of each of the sinuous springs are connected by astrong rubber band 44 to hooks 46 fixed to the top of the auxiliary backrail 36. Springs may be employed in place of rubber bands as will beobvious. Where bands are used, they are looped around certain portionsof the springs and then arranged in V-shape as shownin FIG. 3 and areconnected at their ends to the hooks 46. The bands 44 (or springs)control the firmness of the seating comfort and bands of differenttension may be employed. The seat 10 is of largely conventionalconstruction and will be supported by the elements described. Since thestrip 30 is arranged below the level of the webs 34, a deep cushionedfront edge may be employed to improve the seating comfort.

Each chair side 14 is of course provided with an interior frame, and thesame is true of back '12, as shown in FIG. 8. The frame for each chairside comprises front and rear posts 48 and 50, upper curved wood units52 and cross members 54, 56 and 58. Each member 56 and 58 is providedwith a bolt opening 60 for a purpose to be described.

Each rear post 50 is provided with metal bracket 62 having an upwardlyopeninghook 64, the body of each bracket lying in a substantiallyvertical plane. The hooks 62 are employed for connecting the sides ofthe chair to the back.

Among other elements, the back 12 comprises vertical side posts 66 and abottom rail 68. The bottom rail 68 is provided with at least one boltopening 72 for a purpose to be described.

Each post 66 is provided near its upper end with a vertical slot 74through which the bracket 62 is adapted to be inserted. On each innerface of thepost 66 is secured a chafing plate 76,

the bottom of which is downwardly notched as at 78. The bracket 62 isinserted through the slot 74 and then is raised so that the notch 64 inthe bracket 62 slides upwardly into the notch 78 of the plate 76, asshown in FIG. 7. The upward opening of the notch 64 is important for apurpose to be described.

In FIG. 7 the back and side of the chair are shown as being merelycovered with upholstery material 80. It will be apparent, however, thatthe frames of these units may be provided with both upholstery orpadding covered by upholstery material.

When each side 14 is assembled, as shown in FIG. 7, the bolt holes 60will align with similar openings 82 in the side rails 20 to receivebolts 84 for connecting the deck to the side members. These bolts may beof the type shown in FIG. 4 for connecting the bottom rail 68 of theback to the back rail 18 of the deck. Such bolts preferably includeheads 86 having points 88 projecting therefrom to be driven into thewood of the elements by which they are carried so that when the unitsare brought together, the bolts may be inserted from the inside of thedeck frame. Beneath the corners of the deck frame are secured gusset orcorner plates 90 (FIG. 9) and the chair is provided with feet 92 adaptedto be secured to plates 90 of bolts 94.

OPERATION As previously stated, each of the main units of theconstruction, l0, l2 and 14, are manufactured and completely assembledat the factory, whereupon these units may be stacked in a much smallercarton than is ordinarily used in the shipping of furniture. Thus agreat saving in shipping space and freight rates is effected. The kitthus packed will include feet 92 as separate elements together with thenecessary assembly bolts.

The purchaser, for example a furniture store, will unpack the furnitureunits and placing the back rail 68 in position against the back rail 18of the seat deck will secure these two units together by the bolt 86(FIG. 4), only one such bolt being necessary. Having thus assembled thedeck and back, the sides are then assembled by inserting the brackets 62through the openings 74 and then lifting the side relative to the backto seat the brackets 62 relative to their plates 76. The bolts 84 arethen inserted through the openings 60 (FIG. 8) and 82 (FIG. whereuponthe main units of the chair will have been completely assembled. Theplates 90 (FIG. 9) are then secured in position, and one of the feet 92is bolted to each plate 90 to complete the assembly.

Attention is invited to the fact that upwardly opening of the notch 64is important. By this arrangement the entire weight of the back of thechair is transmitted through the brackets 62 to the sides 14 which seatsquarely on the floor. Thus, no force is transmitted downwardly from theback 12 to the rear portion of the seat deck. All of the foregoingoperations of assembly are quickly and easily carried out, and aresultant chair provides a strong rigid construction. The rubber webbing34 minimizes the hammock effect due to the flexing downwardly of theseat 10 near its edges. Longer sinuous springs 42 may be employed forthe reasons stated, and the resultant chair provides a higher degree ofcomfort in use. A chair of excellent quality may be sold at a lowerprice because of the elimination of the assembly operations in thefactory, the simplicity of the assembly operations by the purchaser, andthe great saving of space in the shipment of the article.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided animproved chair construction which accomplishes all of the objects ofthis invention and others, including many advantages of great practicalutility and commercial importance.

As various embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and asmany modifications may be made in the embodiments hereinbefore shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to beinterpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense. I

I claim:

1. A chair comprising a frame formed of side rails and front and backcross rails connected at their upper ends to said side rails and havingupper faces arranged below the top edges of said side rails, hookscarried by the upper faces of said front and back rails, sinuous springsconnected between the hooks of said front and back side rails andarching therebetween to support a cushion, an auxiliary front railspaced above and parallel to said first-named front rail, a hOrizontalstrip arranged on said auxiliary front rail, a block supported by saidside rail and having its top surface arranged above said strip, a blocksupported on each side rail forwardly of said auxiliary rear rail andhaving its top surface substantially in the plane of the top surfaces ofsaid first-named blockS, a rubber webbing connected to and extendingbetween the tops of said blocks and projecting inwardly thereof, thearrangement of said strip below the top of said blocks and said rubberwebbing being such as to provide for deeply cushioned side edges of acushion arranged on said webbing.

2. A seat unit according to claim 1 provided with an auxiliary rear railspaced above and parallel to said first-named rear rail, and tensioningmeans connected between the top of said auxiliary rear rail and each ofsaid sinuous springs at a point spaced from the rear end thereof totension such spring.

1. A chair comprising a frame formed of side rails and front and backcross rails connected at their upper ends to said side rails and havingupper faces arranged below the top edges of said side rails, hookscarried by the upper faces of said front and back rails, sinuous springsconnected between the hooks of said front and back side rails andarching therebetween to support a cushion, an auxiliary front railspaced above and parallel to said first-named front rail, a hOrizontalstrip arranged on said auxiliary front rail, a block supported by saidside rail and having its top surface arranged above said strip, a blocksupported on each side rail forwardly of said auxiliary rear rail andhaving its top surface substantially in the plane of the top surfaces ofsaid first-named blockS, a rubber webbing connected to and extendingbetween the tops of said blocks and projecting inwardly thereof, thearrangement of said strip below the top of said blocks and said rubberwebbing being such as to provide for deeply cushioned side edges of acushion arranged on said webbing.
 2. A seat unit according to claim 1provided with an auxiliary rear rail spaced above and parallel to saidfirst-named rear rail, and tensioning means connected between the top ofsaid auxiliary rear rail and each of said sinuous springs at a pointspaced from the rear end thereof to tension such spring.